Rise to the top
by SundayDarkness
Summary: Ace had never really been interested in anyone before and the band he played in, The Straw Hats, and his part-time job took pretty much all his time. But when he comes across a certain blonde bass player that catches his attention, will he start thinking about how he uses his time? boyxboy, au, band-au,
1. Chapter 1

_**Okay, so the last few days I've had this idea for a One Piece fanfiction involving them playing in bands, and since the idea never left my mind I figured I might as well write it.**_

_**Btw, I apologise if the summary is bad, I'm not really good at doing them.**_

_**And also, this is my first fanfiction ever, so I would appreciate it if you guys would leave me a review so I can make this story better.**_

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><p>"That was a great show guys. The crowd loved you." A woman with long, orange hair greeted them when they got off stage. The woman was wearing a pair of blue, tight low-rider jeans, a white, long sleeved shirt and a pair of black high-heels.<p>

"Thanks Nami." Ace, who had the lead vocals in the band, smiled at their manager. They had just finished playing a gig she had gotten them a few weeks before at a club. Nami left to go and talk with the clubs owner and he looked at the rest of the members of the band.

The bassist, Zoro, and the guitarist, Sanji, were arguing about something. Brook, who played the piano, was asking some of the female workers if he could see their underwear and getting hit because of it. His brother Luffy, who played drums, was throwing himself over a table with food.

Ace used the towel he had hanging around his neck to wipe away the sweat in his face and on his upper body, as he was not wearing a shirt.

They had been getting many gigs lately at clubs in the Grand Line. The Grand Line area had some of the most popular clubs and venues and all the bands that was going somewhere played there.

After a little while, Nami came back and told them they had to leave. Their equipment had already been loaded into the black van outside that carried the band's name on the sides, "The Straw Hats".

Nami pretty much had to drag Luffy with her to the van to get him to stop eating. While Nami dragged Luffy to the van, Zoro and Brook got into the backseat and Sanji got behind the wheel. He had gotten the shortest straw this time and had to drive.

"You guys can just go back first; I'm heading to Shakky's." Ace said as Luffy jumped into the backseat with Zoro and Brook and Nami was about to get into the passenger seat.

"Then we'll see you later Ace." Nami waved her hand a little in goodbye as she got into the passenger seat and they drove off.

Ace waited until he couldn't see the van any more before he started walking down the street. From the club they played at, it should take him around five minutes to get to Shakky's rip-off bar. He often went there after they played a show in Grand Line to get a drink. The owner, Shakky, used to play in a band a long time ago, and she always gave Ace good advice when it came to music.

After around five minutes, he was walking over to the bar inside Shakky's and sat down on one of the bar stools. There were a lot of people there today and most of them were standing close to the stage. It looked like they were waiting for a band to perform.

"There is a band playing tonight." Ace almost fell of the stool as the unexpected sound had caught him off guard. He turned his head and looked at a woman with short, black hair smoking a cigarette.

"Shakky." Ace looked at the woman while she placed a bottle of beer in front of him. "You surprised me." He took the beer bottle and started drinking. The woman smiled at him taking a drag from her cigarette.

"Did the gig go well?" Ace smiled at the woman and nodded before he started to tell her about how, after they had finished their set list, the crowd wanted more and they played three more songs. Shakky was listening and when Ace finished telling about their gig, she asked some questions about what songs they had played.

Screaming coming from the direction of the stage drew their attention to the stage, where the band had come out and were getting ready to play.

Ace's jaw almost dropped to the floor when he saw the band. That was The Phoenix, one of the most popular, unsigned bands at the moment. He had never seen them play before, and he hadn't really listened to them either but everyone that used to hang out in Grand Line knew who they were.

He watched as the band introduced themselves and started playing. If he didn't remember wrong from what Nami once told him about the band, the lead singers name was Izo, the guitarist's name was Haru-something and the drummer's name was something starting with a T. The bassist's name he couldn't remember anything about, not that his brain really worked right now.

Ace was staring at the bassist. His blonde hair and muscular build, that was easily shown since the purple jacket he was wearing was open and he was not wearing a shirt underneath. His droopy eyes fitted perfect along with his smile.

Ace kept staring at the bassists during the whole show while drinking. After the band had left the stage and the crew had started removing the band's equipment from the stage, he paid Shakky and went home

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><p>Ace woke up the next morning by someone calling his phone. It had been almost 3am by the time he finally got home, and he was exhausted. He had been really exhausted the last couple of weeks because of things being busy with the band and his part-time job as a waiter.<p>

Last night had not really been that much better considering he had argued with Shakky for about fifteen minutes about how much he was going to pay. He had only been drinking three bottles of beer, knowing Shakky he had been counting, but she tried to make him pay for six bottles. Shakky was a friend, but Ace knew that she would never hesitate trying to make someone pay for more than they had been drinking, and she usually succeeded.

When he finally left the bar and had started walking home the rain had started pouring down, and since he didn't have enough money on him for a taxi, he had no choice but to walk through the rain. When he finally got back, he took a shower and went to bed, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Looking at the time, he saw that that was around seven-eight hours ago. Sighing, Ace picked up the phone with a sleepy: "Hello?"

"Ace, are you still sleeping?" He sat up when he recognized Nami's voice. He heard some noises in the background before Nami spoke again. "Forget it, just hurry up and get ready. We will be at your place to pick you up in ten minutes.

"Pick me up?" Ace was confused; he couldn't remember anything happening today. He heard Nami sigh in the other end.

"I should have known you would forget." It was quiet for a moment. "We are going to the Red Line club to talk to the owners and see if they think you guys are good enough to play at the band event in two days on Friday." Shit. Ace had completely forgotten.

"I'll be ready by the time you guys get her." Ace said and hung up before rushing out of bed to find some clothes. He put on the same black knee-length shorts he was wearing yesterday and threw on a yellow t-shirt before walking out of his bedroom.

When he got to the kitchen and opened the fridge, he found it empty. Silently swearing, he made a mental note to go by the supermarket today.

Still hungry, Ace made his way to the bedroom and picked up his phone that he had just thrown on the bed after hanging up on Nami. He put his phone in his back pocket and walked to the front door. He put on his black boots and grabbed his keys before he walked out of his apartment and locked the door.

When he came out of his apartment, he could see the band's van pulling up and stopping. Feeling a little guilty he forgot, he hurried into the backseat where Sanji, Luffy and Brook was already sitting, Sanji sitting in the back of the van. Zoro was in the passenger seat and Nami was driving. As soon as he was in the van and the car door closed Nami stepped on the gas.

It took them almost one and a half hour to reach Red Line club. The club was popular and well known for having shows including several bands once a month, and only the best got to play there. There were two people that owned the Red Line club, Shanks and Whitebeard.

The only reason they had gotten the chance to prove that they were good enough to play there, was because Luffy knew Shanks. Ace had met him on a few occasions before, but he had never really had the chance to talk to the man.

Luffy jumped out of the car and ran inside as soon as it had stopped outside of the Red Line club. Zoro took his bass, Sanji took his guitar, Brook took his keyboard out of the van, and the five standing there walked into the club.

Once inside they could see Luffy standing in front of a man with red hair, three scars over his left eye and a missing left arm. Ace recognized him as Shanks.

Nami walked up to the man standing there with Luffy and introduced first herself and then Ace, Sanji, Zoro and Brook.

Nami and Shanks started talking a little bit about what was going to happen. Ace was paying attention at first but then his eyes caught something else. By the bar five people were talking together, he recognized all five of them. The oldest of them, a man with a white crescent-shaped mustache was Edward Newgate, best known as Whitebeard, one of the owners of the Red Line club.

The other four he had, for the first time, seen perform live just last night; it was the members of The Phoenix.

"Ace." Nami's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked at her. Knowing she had his attention, she continued. "You guys have five minutes and then you will play one of your songs. The drum kit is already there and Sanji, Zoro and Brook is getting ready. Go join them on stage and get ready yourself." Ace just nodded before he walked over to the stage and jumped up.

The five minutes went by fast and they were currently talking about what song to play. They decided to play "Make You King".

As soon as Luffy joined them on stage, Shanks told them to just start when they were ready. Luffy got behind the drum kit, Brook was standing ready with his fingers lingering on the tangents of his keyboard, Zoro was ready with his bass and Sanji was ready with his guitar.

Ace nodded to Luffy and he hit his drumsticks together, first two times and then four times, and then they started playing.

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><p><strong><em>Thanks for reading, I would love getting your opinion on it so I can make it better.<em>**

**_:)_**


	2. Chapter 2

**I finally got around to finish the second chapter :)**

**I got really happy seeing that people seemed to like my story, and I really wanted to get this chapter out sooner, but of course writersblock came into the picture a few times.**

**Well, enough of that. I'll just let you guys read the second chapter now.**

**Disclamer: I do not own One Piece nor any of** the** characters. No matter how much I wish I did, I don't**

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><p>Marco was tired. He hadn't been able to sleep after he got back from the show. He was the bassist in the popular, unsigned band The Phoenix. The band consisted of him on bass, his brother Izo on vocals, his brother Thatch on drums and his sister Haruta on guitar.<p>

They had been playing a show at Shakky's rip-off bar the night before, and even though he was exhausted when he came back home around 1 am he hadn't been able to sleep. After lying awake for around an hour, he had gotten out of bed and tried to write some new songs for the band instead.

Looking at his phone Marco saw that it was almost 10 am. Knowing he was supposed to meet the rest of the band at Red Line club in around two hours, he went into the kitchen and made bacon and eggs for breakfast.

When he finished eating, the time on his phone said 10:45 am. Knowing he would use around an hour driving there from his apartment in West Blue, he changed into a pair of black jeans and a light-blue t-shirt.

Pulling on a pair of sneakers and throwing on his purple jacket, he left his apartment and pulled his keys out of his jacket pocket to lock the door.

He walked over to his car, got in and was about to started it, when his phone started ringing in his pocket. Pulling his phone up from his pocket, he looked at the screen and answered.

"Hey Izo."

"Oh, Marco. Have you left your place yet?" His brothers' voice sounded over the phone.

"I just got into my car. Why? Do you need a ride to Red Line?" Marco could almost hear his brother grinning on the other end of the line.

"I wasn't planning on asking for a ride, but since you offered."

"I'll be there in about ten minutes." Marco smiled when his brother thanked him, told him to hurry up and hung up on him. It was just like Izo, trying to get a ride with him while pretending that wasn't his intention.

Marco loved his brother, he really did, and he didn't mind picking up Izo as it was only about a ten minutes drive from where he lived and it was on the way. Starting his car, he left his own driveway and started driving towards Izo's place.

Ten minutes later, he pulled up in his brother's driveway and stopped the car. Knowing his brother, Marco knew he would have to go inside to get him.

Leaving the car, he walked up the stairs and stopped outside of the door to Izo's apartment. Trying the door and finding it unlocked, he opened it and walked inside before calling his brother. "Izo."

He heard someone walking down the stairs and saw his brother's head come around the corner to his right from the living room.

"Give me five minutes and I'll be ready." Izo smiled at him before walking back up the stairs to get to the bathroom on second floor. At least Marco guessed he was going to the bathroom since his hair was down.

Not bothering to take of his shoes, Marco just walked into the living room at the end of the stairs leading to the second floor, and sat down in the couch to wait for his brother to finish getting ready.

A few minutes later Izo came down the stairs wearing a pink and purple kimono. His hair was tied back so it resembled a geisha hairstyle, something that fitted quite well with his pale skin.

Izo really liked wearing kimonos, makeup and tying his hair up in geisha hairstyles. It gave him a unique look, and it fitted quite well for the band's front man.

"Ready to go?" Marco looked at Izo, who smiled and nodded to him.

Marco got up from the couch and followed his brother out of the apartment.

While Izo locked the door, Marco walked to his car and got in in front of the steering wheel waiting for Izo to join him.

A few minutes later, they were on their way to Red Line club. The reason they were going there was because their father, one of the owners of the club, had asked them to come down. He had told them that a band, that was hoping to get to play at that friday's show 'the Grand Event', was coming down to show what they could and he wanted them to be there to listen to them.

Well, saying it was their father that had asked them to come was both true and not. He wasn't their real father, but he had adopted them all and as he saw them as his sons and daughters, they saw him as their father.

"Hey Marco, are you listening?" Shaken from his own thoughts Marco looked over at his brother for a second before returning his eyes to the road.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

Izo sighed and shook his head. "What I said was: Have you heard about the band? The Straw Hats?"

"I have heard about them, but I have never heard them play before." Marco threw a glance at Izo, who was now smiling suspiciously at him.

"Then I am sure you have heard about that hot raven-haired lead singer they have, the one with freckles." Izo looked at Marco hoping he would get some kind of reaction, but the blond gave none so he continued. "If I don't remember wrong, he is in his early twenties."

"Sorry Izo, but I have only heard about the band." Marco looked over at his brother for a second before he let his eyes go back to the road. "I don't know anything about them, except that their fan base have been growing a lot lately."

"So you have never seen a picture of the band?" He shook his head at his brother's question, not bothering looking at him.

"Then I guess you didn't notice that he was staring at you during the whole gig we had yesterday." Marco shot a look at Izo who had now turned around and was staring out the window. Sighing, Marco turned on the radio for the rest of the ride.

They spent the rest of the drive, with the exception of the music coming from the radio, in silence.

Marco had noticed a really hot guy with freckles staring at him during their show last night at Shakky's. He had only seen him from a distance, since the guy was sitting by the bar while he was on stage and had left soon after their show. But from what he could see of the guy, who hadn't been wearing a shirt, he was pretty hot and he had well defined muscles, meaning he probably worked out quite a bit.

When they arrived at the Red Line club, Marco parked his car across the street from the club, and he and Izo got out.

"Thatch is already here." Marco followed Izo's look and saw his brother's car parked a little down the street.

Not bothering saying anything, Marco just walked through the door to the Red Line, Izo following right behind.

"Pops." Marco greeted with a smile as soon as he saw his father sitting by the bar talking to Thatch. His father, Edward Newgate, looked up and smiled to him and Izo as they came walking over.

"Marco. Izo. Thanks for coming." He smiled warmly to his sons as they stopped in front of him.

"The band you were talking about, when are they supposed to come down here?" Marco looked at his father who smiled before answering him.

"They should be coming soon." Marco nodded before he looked around.

"Where is Haruta?"

"Last I saw her she went backstage." Marco looked at Thatch, who smiled at him. He looked Thatch over for a second before nodding. The drummer was wearing light blue, loose jeans and a white long sleeved shirt. His brown hair was, as usual, styled in a pompadour hairstyle and his unmistakable black goatee covered his chin.

Before anyone could say anything else, they heard someone yelling "Marco!" and seconds later, someone jumped onto Marcos back.

"You're late Marco." He turned his head a little over his right shoulder so he could see his sister's face smiling at him.

"Hey Haruta." Marco smiled at his sister and put his arms under her knees to hold her up. Haruta locked her arms around Marco's neck and her legs around his torso and leaned into his back.

"Ne, Marco. Guess what."

"What?" He looked questioning at Harutas smiling face. She looked as if something really good had happened.

"I'm going to hang out with a friend today and he said he had a really cool brother, and I think you might like my friend's brother." Marco smiled holding in a laugh. She was always like that. Haruta always thought that Marco wasn't social enough, and at every chance she got, she tried to make him meet more people.

"Haruta. Marco is not as unsocial as you think he is." They both looked up at their father, who smiled down to them. Haruta released her hold on Marco and he let his hold of her knees go so she could slide off his back.

Now that he could get a better look at her, Marco saw that she was wearing a pair of baggy, white shorts that reached her a little over her knees and a way-to-big light-green t-shirt, which he recognized as his own.

"Haruta, is that my t-shirt?" Marco looked down at his sister who only smiled innocently up at him.

"Maybe." Marco just shook his head at the answer and rustled his hand in Harutas short, brown hair, while Izo and Thatch started laughing. There was a reason Marco never let Haruta be alone at his place anymore, she always took his shirts.

"Oh, The Phoenix is here." A new voice made them all turn towards it.

"So you are here, brat." Newgate looked at the red-haired man the voice belonged to.

"Of course I am. I'm looking forward to seeing how good these guys have become." Shanks smiled. "The Straw Hats."

"You know one of the members right? That's why they're getting this chance." Izo looked at the red-haired man while speaking.

Before Shanks got the chance to answer, yelling coming from the front door of the club interrupted them.

"SHANKS!" A young boy with short, raven black hair came running towards Shanks and stopped grinning in front of him. The boy was wearing blue shorts, sandals and a red west, and he had a straw hat on his head.

"Luffy." Shanks smiled at the boy and started talking to him while Marco, Izo, Thatch, Haruta and Newgate looked at them. Well, it seemed as if the band was there.

Izo and Thatch started talking together about some new songs they were writing, while Haruta tried to interrupt them. Marco cast another glance at the boy Shanks was talking with before turning to his father.

"Have you ever heard the band, Pops?"

"No, but Shanks says they're good. He might know someone from the band, but he wouldn't give them credit if he didn't think they deserved it." Newgate smiled down to his son and opened up a new bottle of sake.

Marco smiled back before he looked at Haruta to get her attention and started talking with her. Izo shot him a grateful look before continuing his conversation with Thatch.

Izo didn't have anything against Haruta, they all loved her, but she was younger than the rest of them, and sometimes her energy could get too much.

Haruta was 19, seven years younger than Izo, eleven years younger than Thatch and fifteen years younger than Marco. Haruta was the youngest, not only in the band but also in their family, so she always had more energy than the rest.

"Marco." He got shook from his thoughts by his father's voice and looked up at him. Newgate nodded behind him and he turned his head around to see. Izo, Thatch and Haruta also got curious and looked in the direction their father nodded.

In front of the front door stood five people, four guys and a women. The orange haired woman walked straight over to Shanks and started talking to him. The boy that had been talking to Shanks looked around the room before he started running around inside the club.

Of the four other guys that had come in, there was a blond guy and a green haired guy that was arguing about something, a tall guy with an afro looked around and a raven-haired boy with freckles looked in their direction.

Wait. Wasn't that…?

"Marco, isn't that the guy that was staring at you during the show last night?" He turned his head and looked at Izo who had come closer and now smirked at him. Izo, seeing he had Marcos attention continued talking without waiting for a reply. "Who would have thought that that hottie played in The Straw Hats?"

Marco turned his head to look at the guy again, who were now talking with the orange haired woman. The blonds eyes followed him as he walked to the stage and jumped up to get ready.

Marco shook his head lightly before his eyes landed on Shanks that was on his way over to them with the orange haired woman following behind him.

"They will start playing in a few minutes." Shanks sat down by the bar and took a bottle of beer that stood on the counter. "This is Nami, she is their manager." He nodded towards the woman, who smiled at them, before taking a sip of the bottle.

"It's nice meeting you and thank you so much for giving the guys a chance for the show." She smiled at Shanks and Newgate before turning her attention to the four standing. "And it's really nice getting to meet the members from The Phoenix. I'm a big fan." She smiled to them before sitting down beside Shanks.

"How long have you been their manager?" Izo asked and looked at Nami, who smiled at him.

"Ever since they started playing together two years ago. I went to the same high school as Ace and even though he is two years older than me, we used to hang out a lot, so when the guys started a band Ace asked me to be their manager."

"I'm just wondering, but aren't you maybe a little young to be a manager for a band?" Nami almost looked a little bit offended at Izo, before she answered.

"I'm good with money." She smirked a little at Izo before continuing. "And I'm good with getting what I want."

They all looked at her, a little surprised by her confidence. Newgate was the one that broke the silence that had fallen over them.

"Gurararara. It's good to have confidence in your own abilities, girl. That band is lucky to have you as their manager." He smiled down to the young girl.

"Talking about the band." Shanks nodded towards the stage. "It seems as if they are ready."

They all looked towards the stage, where The Straw Hats seemed to have just agreed on something.

All of a sudden they saw the raven-haired boy, that had been talking to Shanks earlier, walk to the stage and jump up before getting behind the drum kit.

Shanks raised his voice a little to get the attention of the band on the stage, before he said;

"You guys can just start when you're ready." They nodded to him, and Marco saw that the guy with freckles say something to the drummer before turning around and grabbing the microphone.

The drummer hit his drumsticks together, first two times and then four, and the band started playing.

"Woohoo." They all started applauding when The Straw Hats finished playing the song. Nami walked over to the stage and talked to them a little before coming back.

The band put down their instruments before coming over to the others. As soon as they stopped in front of the others, Haruta hurried and hugged the drummer.

"Luffy that was awesome." Haruta started jumping up and down, not noticing the surprised looks she got from her brothers.

"Haruta, do you know him?" Marco looked at his sister, as she stopped jumping up and down, and turned around to face him.

"Yeah, we're going to the same university and have the same major." She smiled at Marco. "Luffy is the friend I told you about that I'm going to hang out with today." Marco just nodded at the reply.

"I should probably properly introduce you guys." Nami said and caught everyone's attention.

"The pianist is Brook, and the guitarist is Sanji." She pointed first to the guy with the afro, and then to the blond guy. "The bassist is Zoro, and the drummer is Luffy." She pointed to the green haired guy and the raven-haired boy Haruta had hugged. She then proceeded to laying her hand on the shoulder of the freckled raven-haired guy. "And this is Ace; he is the lead singer and the band's main songwriter."

The freckled guy, Ace, removed Nami's hand from his shoulder and looked annoyed at her. The orange haired woman just pretended she didn't see it.

Not giving anyone the chance to say anything, she continued. "And the members of The Phoenix is; Izo, the lead singer. Thatch, the drummer. Haruta, the guitarist. And Marco, the bassist." She pointed to them as she talked, and when she finished she put her hands on her hips and smiled.

"It's nice to meet you guys." Izo smiled at the other band before continuing. "You guys are really good."

"Thanks." Ace said and smiled.

Nami asked if she could talk to Shanks and Newgate in private, and the three went off to the office to talk. Haruta and Luffy ended up walking over to the stage to talk about something, but Marco couldn't catch what it was. Izo and Thatch took Zoro, Sanji and Brook to show them around backstage, leaving Marco and Ace standing alone at the bar.

"Your name was Ace right?" Marco looked at the raven-haired guy in front of him, who nodded in reply. Realizing he was not going to say anything Marco continued. "You and the drummer, Luffy was it? Are you brothers? You look alike." This time Ace answered with words.

"Yeah, Luffy and I are brothers." Ace smiled at him before continuing. "We're not related by blood, but we are brothers." Marco looked a little surprised at him, but then he smiled.

"I know what you mean. You don't need to be related to someone by blood for them to be family."

Ace and Marco stood and talked for a little while longer, before Luffy and Haruta came over to them.

"Ace, I'm hungry." They both looked at the younger raven-haired boy when he and Haruta stopped beside them. "Can we go to your place when we're done here?"

"Luffy, I don't have any food at my place." Ace looked at his brother for a few seconds before he nodded at Haruta. "And aren't you supposed to be hanging out with your friend today?"

"Luffy and I can hang out at your place. We can just go and buy food on the way." Haruta looked at Ace as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And Marco can come too."

"What?" Marco looked at his sister as if she just said something crazy.

"Yeah." She looked at him with the same look she just gave Ace. "I'm going to hang out with Luffy because we have an assignment for school, and Ace is going to be bored if he's alone so you have to come too."

Marco sighed and looked at his sister. "You have your own apartment, why don't you and Luffy just hang out at your place?"

"I didn't think about that." Haruta looked at Luffy who grinned at her.

"Yosh, it's decided." Luffy looked at them. "We are all going to hang out at Ace's place."

"We are not, Luffy" Ace gave Luffy a smack in the back of his head. "I don't have money to feed you, and I also have to work today."

Luffy started pouting and looked at his brother with big eyes, but Ace just ignored him.

"Younger siblings can be a pain in the ass sometimes." Ace smiled apologetic to Marco.

"I know what you mean."

Luffy and Haruta looked almost shocked at their older brothers.

"I'm not a pain in the ass." Haruta looked offended at Marco.

"Neither am I." Luffy pouted, before he and Haruta left to see if they could find Izo, Thatch, Zoro, Sanji and Brook.

Marco and Ace kept talking for a little while until Izo and the rest came and joined them. A few minutes later, Nami, Shanks and Newgate joined them too.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you guys playing on friday." Shanks smiled to them.

"Does that mean…?" Ace looked at Nami who smiled to him.

"Yeah, you guys are playing at Red Line's Grand Event." Ace's jaw dropped. Luffy and Brook started yelling and jumping up and down. And Zoro and Sanji stopped arguing and smiled.

"Congrats." Thatch gave Ace a pat on the back and grinned at him.

"It is going to be fun sharing the stage with you guys on friday." Izo smiled at them.

"That's awesome. Luffy, we have to celebrate with pizza." Haruta gave Luffy a hug and smiled at him.

Marco just smiled and looked at the others. They seemed really happy to be able to play at Red Line, and his brothers and sister seemed really happy to get to share the stage with The Straw Hats.

"I know you guys are really happy right now, but we have to get going soon." Nami looked at the guys who looked a little disappointed at her.

"Why do we have get going?" the bassist, Zoro, asked.

"Because, if we don't get going soon a certain singer is going to be late for work." Nami

looked over at Ace.

"Since when do you know my work schedule?"

"Since high school." Ace looked annoyed at Nami, who just smiled at him.

"Remind me why I tolerate you again."

"Because we're friends."

"Friends don't blackmail each other, Nami." Nami looked offended at Ace.

"Since when have I blackmailed you, Ace?"

"Since high school." Ace said it in a more girly voice to imitate her, and it made the others listening to them laugh.

Nami gave Ace an ugly look and smacked him in the back of his head, before turning towards the rest of The Straw Hats.

"Get your stuffs guys, we have to go." They nodded, and Sanji, Zoro and Brook went to the stage to get their instruments.

"Luffy, are you getting a ride with Haruta?" Luffy looked at Nami and nodded.

"Yeah, since you said we couldn't be at our place, we're going to be doing the assignment at Harutas place." Nami just nodded at the reply.

"The two of you live together?" Izo looked between Nami and Luffy with a little surprised look on his face.

"They're going out." Ace ignored the look Nami shot him when he said it.

"I'm guessing you are the one that introduced them to each other." Marco looked at Ace who grinned at him.

"If I knew this would happen I would never have done it." Nami smacked Ace in the back of the head again. Ace shot her an annoyed look and Marco laughed a little.

"Haruta, I can give you and your friend a ride if you want to." Marco looked at his sister who smiled at him.

"Really? Thanks Marco." Haruta gave him a hug. "But you live in the complete opposite direction of me." Marco just smiled at her and ruffled her hair.

"I don't mind. It is better than Thatch giving you a ride and leaving me with having to sit in a car with Izo." That earned Marco a smack in the back of his head from said brother.

"Shut up Marco." Izo gave him an annoyed look before looking at Thatch. "We should probably get going to." Thatch looked at him and nodded.

"We'll see you guys on friday." Thatch smiled at Ace, Nami and Luffy before he and Izo started walking towards the door.

Zoro, Sanji and Brook had finished getting their stuff and Nami threw the car keys to Sanji and told them just to go out to the van, before she turned her attention to Marco.

"You will be driving those two to East Blue, right?" She pointed to Luffy and Haruta. Marco nodded.

"Luffy, Haruta lives in the same direction as Ace right?" Nami turned towards Luffy.

"Yeah, she lives pretty close to Ace actually." Nami smiled and turned towards Marco again.

"Could you take him too?" She pointed at Ace. "I will be driving to East Blue too, but Ace lives in a different direction than the rest of us, and since you're already heading in the same direction." She looked pleading at Marco.

"Sure. Why not?" Marco smiled at her and Nami looked gratefully at him before turning towards Shanks and Newgate, who had been quiet during the conversations.

"Shanks, Newgate. It was nice to meet you, and thank you so much for letting The Straw Hats play at Red Line's Grand Event." Nami smiled to them. "I have to go now, but I will see you guys on friday."

"It was nice meeting you Nami." Shanks smiled to her and gave her a hug.

"That band really is lucky to have such a great manager." Newgate smiled at Nami.

Saying goodbye, Nami turned around and walked out of the club.

"We should probably get going too." Marco looked at Ace, Luffy and Haruta.

Ace took up his phone and looked at the screen before looking at Marco. "Yeah, we should get going."

"Haruta, the two of you can just head out to my car. It's parked across the street." Marco threw his car keys to Haruta who caught them and started dragging Luffy with her outside, yelling a goodbye to her father.

"Bye Shanks." Luffy grinned at them before Haruta could drag him through the door.

"Was that really a good idea?" Ace looked questioning at Marco.

"Probably not, so we should go after them." Marco looked at Ace before looking at his father. "I will see you later, Pops."

Newgate smiled to him, and Marco and Ace said goodbye before walking outside. Luffy and Haruta already sat in the backseat of Marcos car, and Marco got in in the driver's seat and Ace in the passenger seat.

"When do you have to be at work?" Marco looked over to Ace when he started driving.

"In about two hours." Ace looked out of the window.

"Where do you work? I can drive you there if you want to." Ace looked over at Marco, but before he could answer, Luffy did it for him.

"Ace is a waiter at Baratie. I really want to go to eat there but Ace says I can't." Marco looked at Luffy in the rear-view mirror.

"Marco, can we go and eat at Baratie?" Haruta looked pleading at her brother in the rear-view mirror.

"Maybe later Haruta." Luffy and Haruta both started pouting in the backseat.

"Never take Luffy out to eat. He can eat out a whole restaurant by himself." Marco shot a glance at Ace who grinned at him.

"Like you are any better than me." Luffy pouted in the backseat.

"I told you his brother was cool Marco." Haruta grinned in the backseat and Marco shook his head a little before turning on the CD player.

"Is that Breaking Benjamin?" Ace looked questioning at Marco when the music started playing. He nodded in reply. Grinning, Ace started singing along to the lyrics. Luffy and Haruta joined in from the backseat, and Marco laughed a little from where he was sitting behind the steering wheel.

"Take the next right." Ace pointed at an exit to the right that led to the parking lot for an apartment building.

Marco turned right where Ace pointed and stopped the car outside the apartment complex. The apartment building was two stories high, with five entrances after each other, all on the first level.

"Thanks for the ride." Ace looked gratefully at Marco before turning around and looked at his brother. "Luffy, don't destroy anything."

Luffy looked offended at his brother when Ace opened the car door and got out. Before he closed it, he turned and looked at Marco.

"It was nice meeting you Marco. And you Haruta. Bye." Marco lifted his hand in goodbye, and Haruta and Luffy both practically screamed goodbye as Ace closed the door.

Marco watched Ace walk up to one of the doors at the end and open it. When Ace had walked inside, Marco left the parking lot and started driving towards Harutas apartment a few blocks away.

As soon as Ace had closed the door behind him, he let himself fall to the floor, leaning his back against the front door.

Fuck. He hadn't just met the hot blond he had been staring at yesterday; he had even gotten a ride home from him.

Ace just sat on the floor in front of his front door for a few minutes taking in everything that had already happened today. The Straw Hats would be playing at Red Line's Grand Event. He had met The Phoenix. He had been talking to that hot blond bassist his eyes had been glued to the previous night. He had learned the blonds name, Marco. The bassist now knew where he lived.

When everything had really sunk in, Ace got up from the floor and kicked off his shoes before going up the stairs to his bedroom. He threw off the yellow t-shirt and the black shorts, before replacing them with a pair of black jeans and a white dress shirt.

He left his room and walked to the bathroom to take a look in the mirror. His hair was a little messy and he fixed it before walking downstairs and back to the front door, where he pulled on his black boots again.

Taking up his phone to check the time, he saw that he had around half an hour before he had to be at work. Ace threw on a black hoodie that hung by the door and grabbed his headphones from the counter before he walked out the door and locked it.

He put his headphones on and pressed play at a random playlist. Fall Out Boy started playing and he started walking towards the Baratie.

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><p><strong>This chapter was actually pretty fun to write. And I don't know about you guys, but I can see Ace and Nami being kinda mean to each other even thought they actually get along really good.<strong>

**I get really happy by reviews, so if you have time I'd love it if you left one.**

**One thing I started thinking about while writing this chapter is that it might seem a little confusing with the city and stuff, so I'm adding a little information about the city the story is going on in her since I have no idea of how to work that information into the story.**

**Also, a little thing about Haruta. Since Harutas gender have never been confirmed, and it can go either way, I decided to make her a girl for this story.**

**And I'm also adding the ages of the people that have been introduced since I have lowered the ages of some of them.**

**Marco: 34**

**Izo: 26**

**Thatch: 30**

**Haruta: 19**

**Ace: 22**

**Luffy: 19**

**Brook: 38**

**Zoro: 21**

**Sanji: 21**

**Nami: 20**

**Shanks: 39**

**Whitebeard: 52**

**The city they live in is called New World.**

**Grand Line is a big area in the middle of the city New World. Grand Line is the big music area, with a lot of clubs and bars that have bands playing there from time to time and have live music most of the time. There are also a lot of music stores that sells both cd's and instruments and anything a musician would need. Record companies, recording studios and rehearsal studios are also spread over the Grand Line area.**

**North blue, East blue, South blue, West blue.**

**Living areas. This are the areas where most of the houses and apartments are located in the city. In all four areas you can also find malls, stores, bars, clubs, schools, restaurants, convenience stores,**

**Of course, the areas and prices are different.**

**North Blue is the most expensive place to live. The rent is high, and all the stores, bars, clubs and restaurants are expensive. The area have private schools, and only the wealthy people with a lot of money can live there.**

**South Blue is the cheapest place to live. South blue is more like the lawless area in New World. There is a lot of criminality there, the buildings are pretty shit, rent is cheap, the prices in the stores are low. The schools are bad and the education is low in this area.**

**East Blue is, along with West blue, more like the middle class area. The buildings are nice, the prices are not to high. The schools are not too bad, not the best, but still very good.**

**West Blue are pretty much just the same as East blue, with the exception of everything being more expensive than in East blue. The buildings are also in better condition than in East blue.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, this chapter took me longer than I planned. **

**I started writing this chapter, but had to stop because I didn't really feel like writing anything. But I decided to make sure I got this chapter out before 2015 started, and there is a little more than 30 minutes left of 2014 where I am.**

**I'm not gonna say so much more here, I just wanna apologize for taking so long to get this chapter out. And I'm sorry it's so short, but I'll try to get the next chapter out faster.**

**Btw, thanks so much for the reviews on the first two chapters. Reading them always make me happy, and thank you so much to everyone that have favorited or followed this story. It means a lot to me seeing that people want to read more of this story.**

**Okay, now I'm really gonna stop. Enjoy reading this chaper :)**

**Disclamer: Sadly enough, I don't own One Piece nor any of the characters.**

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><p>"...please enjoy your meal." The raven-haired boy with freckles smiled at the couple before leaving them to eat the food he had just brought them. He walked back to the kitchen to see if any of his other orders were finished.<p>

"Ace. Table 3's order is ready." Ace looked over at the blond that talked to him and nodded.

"I'll bring it out, Sanji." He picked up the plates Sanji pointed to, before walking back out to the main restaurant.

Ace walked over to table 3 and placed the plates in front of the two men that sat there. Telling them to enjoy their meal, he walked away from the table and headed for the kitchen again.

"Ace-san." He stopped and turned around to look at a fairly tall, slim and pale girl with blonde hair.

"Is everything okay, Kaya?" Ace smiled at the waitress.

"There are some new customers at table 1." Ace looked over at table 1, which were placed in a corner of the restaurant, and made a grimace.

Ace sighted before he smiled to Kaya again. "Thanks for letting me know Kaya. Could you go to the kitchen and see if the order for table 5 is ready?" Kaya nodded and left for the kitchen.

When he was working, Ace was in charge of table 1 to 5. Kaya was one of the waitresses that worked with Ace on the same tables.

Sighting a last time, Ace put on a smile and walked over to table 1, where his brother was sitting along with the two other people that had been in the same car as him a few hours earlier.

"I thought I warned you about taking Luffy out to eat." Ace smiled to the blond sitting by the table.

"Haruta wanted to come here and eat, and I owed her one." Marco looked Ace up and down, before letting his eyes rest on his face.

"Well, you're warned about Luffy." Ace shot his brother a short look before continuing. "Do you guys want to order?"

"Oi, Ace." Luffy looked offended at his brother. "You're not any better than me."

The freckled teen shook his head but ignored his brothers' comment.

"Do you guys want to order, or do you need more time?" At the second mention of food, Luffy started grinning.

"All the meat." Ace looked at the blond, knowing he was the one paying. Marco nodded, before ordering a steak for himself. Haruta smiled and ordered a burger and fries.

Ace wrote down their orders and went back to the kitchen to give it to the chefs. After giving the order for table 1 to the chefs, Ace heard raised voices and hurried back out to the main restaurant.

One of the men at table 3, which Ace had given their order to a few minutes earlier, was standing and yelling at the blonde waitress sitting on the floor, trying to wipe up the spilled wine.

Ace started walking over to the table and stopped beside Kaya, who were still sitting on the floor.

"Do you have a problem, Sir?" Ace kept his voice polite while he looked at the man.

"A problem?" The man was almost shaking with anger. "THAT INCOMPETENT WAITRESS SPILLED WINE ALL OVER MY SUIT!"

Ace looked down on Kaya, who lowered her head. Sighing, he held his hand out to her and helped her up on her feet. Now that he could see her standing up, Ace could see that Kaya had spilled the wine on herself too. He also noticed that parts of her clothes were a little torn from the broken glass, and that there were coming a little blood from some small cuts.

"Kaya, are you okay?" Ace looked worried at her, completely ignoring the angry customer.

"I…"

"WHO CARES ABOUT THAT STUPID WAITRESS? I'M GOING TO SUE THIS RESTAURANT!" Ace took his eyes of Kaya and looked at the man yelling.

"We're inside a restaurant, so please don't yell." Ace gave the man an annoyed look before continuing. "And it's just clothes; don't get so mad about it."

The whole restaurant was looked at them, all the yelling had made them curious. Some of the chefs had also come out of the kitchen, wondering about all the noise. Sanji was standing with them planning to interfere, but as soon as he saw Ace standing beside the waitress, he kicked the chefs back into the kitchen.

"YOU BRAT!" The man threw a punch towards Ace, but the raven-haired boy ducked before taking a hold of the man's wrist.

"I have to ask you to leave." Ace was now giving the man a pissed looked, before letting go of the man's wrist and raising his arm. He sent the guy flying into the table, breaking it, with a punch. Ace turned his attention to the other man that had been sitting by the table.

"You should take your buddy and leave."

The guy helped his friend up on his feet before glaring at Ace. "Our boss won't let you get away with this, you brat." And then he turned around and helped his friend out of the restaurant.

People were still looking over to where Ace and Kaya were standing when Sanji came walking over to them, laying a hand on Ace's shoulder for a second.

Ace took the hint and turned around to Kaya, before starting to walk towards the staff room while giving Kaya a hand.

Before closing the door to the staff room, Ace could hear Sanji apologizing to the other guests for the scene.

Ace helped Kaya over to one of the chairs and let her sit down while he got the first aid kit.

"Ace-san, I'm so sorry." The raven-haired boy looked surprised at her. "I tripped while getting a new bottle of wine and…" Ace held up his hand to stop her.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Kaya." He smiled at her, before starting to clean and cover up the small cuts on her arms and legs.

After treating the cuts, Ace noticed that one of Kaya's ankles looked a little swollen and asked if it hurt. He took of the low shoe she had on her right foot, before going to get an ice pack.

When he came back, Ace had the ice pack laying inside a towel and he carefully raised Kaya's foot and placed it on another chair before slowly putting the towel with the ice pack over the swollen ankle.

Telling Kaya to rest, Ace walked through the door connecting the kitchen and staff room.

"Is Kaya okay?" Sanji came up to him as soon as he entered the kitchen and Ace smiled to him.

"She have some small cuts and her ankle is probably sprained. I thought I'd give Usopp a call and have him pick her up."

"I'm glad she's okay. And I've already called Usopp, he's on his way." Sanji looked towards the door to the main restaurant before continuing. "That shitty old man is probably mad about the table."

"Then I should probably stay away from Zeff for the rest of the day." Ace grinned.

"By the way, the order for table 1 is ready." Sanji gave Ace a small grin. "You need any help taking it out?"

Ace looked in the direction the blond were nodding and made a grimace. The whole kitchen bench, where the orders for table 1 were always placed, were full.

"Who's available?" Sanji thought a little before answering.

"None of the waiters, but I'll give you a hand."

"What about Kid? Isn't he supposed to be working right now?" Ace walked over to the plates with food that were placed on the kitchen bench with the number 1 hanging over it.

"Bastard didn't show up." Sanji came over and took the plate with the steak and the plate with burger and fries and two plates with meat before walking out of the kitchen. Ace sighted and picked up the reminding plates with meat and followed Sanji out of the kitchen.

They walked over to table 1, Ace first. Ace placed the plates with meat in front of his brother, while Sanji gave Haruta and Marco their orders before placing the two plates with meat he had in front of Luffy.

Luffy threw himself over the food instantly, and seeing Luffy, Haruta grinned and started eating; trying to keep up with the speed Luffy swallowed his food. Marco smiled at the two younger teenagers throwing themselves over the food.

"I didn't know you worked here." Marco looked at Sanji before he started to eat.

"My dad owns the place." Sanji shrugged his shoulders and went back to the kitchen.

Ace asked if they wanted anything to drink, and went over to the bar to get it before coming back.

When Ace came back to table 1 with the drinks, a guy with half-long, black curly hair and a long nose was standing by the table talking to them.

"Usopp, Kaya is in the staff room." Ace smiled at the young guy and placed the drinks in front of Luffy, Haruta and Marco.

"What happened? Sanji called me and told me I should come pick up Kaya." Usopp looked worried at Ace, and Ace smiled reassuring to him.

"Just a broken bottle and some troublesome customers." Ace turned and faced Usopp. "She have a few cuts and probably a sprained ankle. I cleaned the cuts and gave her an ice pack for the ankle, but you should take her to the hospital."

"Thanks Ace." Usopp smiled to him before turning to the ones sitting at the table. "It was nice meeting you guys, but I should probably get my girlfriend." Usopp said goodbye and started walking to the staff room where Kaya was sitting.

Ace turned and looked at the ones sitting at the table. Luffy were stuffing his face full of food, Haruta tried to keep up with Luffy but failing, and Marco was taking his time with his food.

"I have to get back to work, but let me know if you guys need anything else." Ace smiled and walked back to the kitchen.

When he walked through the door to the kitchen, he stopped in his track and tried to, slowly, walk out again before he was noticed. But he failed.

"Don't even try, brat." Ace swore inside, but walked into the kitchen and let the door close behind him.

An elderly-looking man with blond hair, a braided mustache and a long chef's hat were staring at him with an annoyed look.

"If it's about the table, it wasn't my fault, Zeff." The raven-haired boy raised his hands towards the owner of the restaurant.

"If you had to break the table you might as well have given that bastard a proper beating, kid." The owner looked at Ace for a second before letting his attention go to the chefs making food.

Ace smiled a little before walking out of the kitchen to check up on the tables he were in charge of. He still had two more hours to work before his shift was over.

Marco walked into the bar and looked around. There weren't many people in Partys Bar, and that was one of the reasons why Marco liked going to that bar in East Blue.

He walked over to the bar and sat down. A female bartender with dark green hair came over to him when he sat down.

"Welcome. What can I get you?" She smiled at him.

"A beer." Marco smiled back and took a sip of the beer when the bartender placed an open bottle of beer in front of him. "Thanks Makino." The bartender smiled to him before she walked over to one of the tables with a few bottles of beer.

Marco sighted and thought about what happened at the restaurant when he was eating with Haruta and Luffy. The guy that had been sent flying into the table and the guy he had been eating with, Marco could swear he had seen those guys before. And wherever he had seen them, it had not been in good company.

The blond sat there by the bar by himself for an hour or so before someone sat down beside him. He looked up and saw a woman with long orange hair. She was wearing blue, low-rider jeans, a yellow short-sleeved shirt with a hoodie and black high-heels that reached her a little above the ankles.

"I hope you don't mind me sitting here." She smiled at him and the blond smiled back.

"Nami, wasn't it?" She nodded before ordering a beer from the bartender that had come over. Marco ordered another beer himself and paid for both bottles.

"Thanks." Nami took a sip of her beer. "I'm a little curious, what is the famous bassist doing in a bar like this in East Blue?"

"I came over this bar a few years ago while bar jumping with a few of my brothers." Marco took a sip of his beer before continuing. "It's usually really quiet here, so I kept coming back. I like the place." He looked over at Nami. "What about you? How did you come over this bar?"

"Ace showed me the place when we were in high school. We used to 'borrow' some alcohol here." Nami smiled a little at the memory.

"You and Ace seem close." Marco looked at her.

"We've been through a lot together." Nami smiled to the blond and took another sip of her beer. "Around the time I met Ace, I was in a lot of trouble. I was involved with a gang called Arlong Pirates and when I started high school and met Ace I was really deep in it." Nami swallowed before continuing. "Ace found out after we had been hanging out for a few months, and he helped me get out of the gang. Arlong went underground after that and I haven't heard anything about him since either." Nami looked at Marco with a smile. "Ace saved me from all the trouble I was in back then, and I owe him for it."

"I get it. If someone helps you out like that, you'd feel like you owe them a lot." Marco smiled to her and put a hand on her shoulder for a few seconds.

"Ace gets annoyed, irritated and mad at me a lot, but I can always count on him being there if I need him." Nami laughed a little. "That's something those two idiots have in common; neither of them would ever let down a friend nor let anyone get away with hurting their friends."

"I'm guessing 'those two idiots' are Luffy and Ace." Nami nodded.

They sat there in the bar talking for a little while before Nami had to start leaving.

"It was really nice getting to talk to you Marco." She drank the rest of her third beer before getting up from her seat.

"It was really nice talking to you too Nami." The blond smiled at her. Nami turned around and was about to start walking towards the exit when she turned around again.

"By the way, everything I told you stays between the two of us." She gave him one last smile before she left the bar.

Marco shook his head a little and finished his own beer before leaving the bar. He had left his car parked outside Harutas place, and that was where he was heading now. He figured he would just stay at his sister's place for the night. He wasn't in any shape to drive back home at the moment anyway.

After he had finished his shift at Baratie, Ace had walked home and changed clothes before heading out again. He had gotten on a bus to South Blue, and currently he was sitting in front of a grave in Baterilla.

"Hey mom." He smiled a little for himself. "I wasn't really planning on coming today, so I didn't bring any flowers. I just felt like I had to come and visit you today."

After a little while, it started raining and the raven-haired boy pulled his black jacket closer around his body. Despite the rain, he sat in front of the grave for hours talking about everything that had happened since sunday. When he didn't have anything else to talk about, he sat still for a little while before getting up.

"Well, I have to get going." It was still raining, and he shivered a little. "I'll come back with flowers on sunday, so I'll see you then mom." He smiled a little while he walked out of the cemetery and started walking back home. The clock had passed midnight, and he knew there weren't any busses going in South Blue after midnight.

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><p><strong>Ace is a really nice guy, right? But I almost hate myself a little for writing that last part.<strong>

**Well, nothing to do about that now.**

**If you have time and feel like it; please leave a review and let me know what you think about the story. Any tips to how I can make it better is appreciated :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'M SO FUCKING SORRY!**

**IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO TAKE SO LONG BEFORE THIS CHAPTER CAME OUT. BUT WHEN THE NEW YEAR STARTED, THINGS GOT BUSY AT SCHOOL, AND THEN I HAD PROBLEMS FINDING THE MOTIVATION TO DO ANYTHING, AND WHEN I FIRST HAD THE MOTIVATION I ENDED UP GETTING A WRITERS BLOCK IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING THIS CHAPTER, AND IT HAPPENED SO MANY TIMES. AND I KNOW THIS IS JUST EXCUSES, AND I'M REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY.**

**Please don't hate me for taking so long with this chapter.**

**It's not really that long, but I hope you like it.**

**And again, I'm really sorry for taking so long with this chapter.**

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><p>Waking up from noise downstairs, Ace looked at his phone: 7am. Swearing, he got out of bed and left his bedroom to find out what all that noise was.<p>

"Ouch" Something knocked Ace over as soon as he came down the stairs.

"Oh, sorry Ace." The freckled teen lifted his head and looked right into his brothers grinning face.

"Luffy? What are you doing here?" Getting back up on his feet, he looked on his younger brother.

"He's not alone." Ace made a grimace when he heard Nami's voice from the kitchen. Shaking his head, he walked towards the kitchen.

"Damn it Nami, don't just come in whenever…" Ace froze in the door opening to the kitchen. Nami wasn't alone in there.

"Morning, Ace." Ace looked straight at the blond sitting across from Nami on the kitchen table drinking coffee. It was the same blond he had run into several times the day before, Marco.

"What's going on here?" He looked between Nami and Marco.

"I was just picking up Luffy and since Marco was still there I suggested we came here for coffee." Nami smiled an almost innocent smile. "You should probably change."

At first Ace looked questioning at Nami for the last bit she said, but then he remembered he was standing there in nothing but his boxer.

"I'll get some coffee first." He sat down on one of the free kitchen chairs. Nami got up and made a cup of coffee that she placed in front of Ace before she sat down again.

After taking a sip from the coffee, Ace made a grimace and got up from the chair before he walked over to the fridge. The coffee was really bitter. When he opened the fridge, he stood in front of it for a few seconds before he turned to Nami.

"Did you fill up my fridge?"

"Yeah, I figured you'd forget and since I was planning on coming by here today I figured I might as well buy some food." The freckled teen nodded before he took the milk out of the fridge and put some in his coffee.

"I'll pay you back later."

He sat down again after putting the milk back in the fridge. He turned his attention to Nami and Marco when he figured the coffee finally tasted good.

"Now, why are you at my place? And why this early?"

"I needed coffee, so did Marco." Nami gave Ace a smile before drinking more of her coffee.

He figured out he wasn't awake enough yet to start an argument with Nami, so instead he changed the topic.

"What were you talking about before I came?"

"We were talking about trying to get a song featuring you on The Phoenix next album." Ace looked surprised at Marco. Did he hear right? Him featuring on a song with The Phoenix?.

"A song featuring me on The Phoenix next album?"

"Yeah, I talked to Izo and Thatch on the phone yesterday and they thought it was a really good idea, and Haruta is really excited about it too." The blond gave him a smile before finishing his coffee.

"We were trying to figure out a schedule that would work for both you and them to work on the song and then rehearse and record it." Nami finished her coffee and got up to get another cup.

"Well, I should be leaving. I have some things I weren't able to finish yesterday." Marco stood up from the chair before he looked at Nami. "You have my number, so we can figure out a schedule that will work for all of us later." Nami nodded before she sat down again. Marco turned his attention to Ace. "Sorry for coming by so early."

"It's fine, Nami does it all the time so I really don't mind it." The freckled teen smiled to the blond before they said goodbye, and Marco left the kitchen. A few seconds later they could hear the front door closing. Ace turned his attention at Nami.

"Now, what are you really doing here?" He knew Nami. No way would she come here **just** to get coffee. She sighed before looking at him.

"He's hot, Ace. And you were almost drooling on him yesterday."

"It's none of your business, Nami." He was getting tired of her always meddling with his private life. "And I wasn't drooling on him yesterday."

"I'm worried for you." Nami looked on him with a worried look. She often did when they were alone, and he knew why. "And Marco is a really nice guy, he won't care about your past, Ace."

"You and Luffy should probably leave. You have morning classes, right? You should get going."

"Ace…" Nami shook her head and stood up. She had known him long enough to know he wouldn't start talking about his past. "I'll see you later." She put a hand on his shoulder and let it rest there for a few seconds before she left the kitchen. A minute later Ace heard Luffy yell goodbye, and the front door was closed behind them.

He sighted before he started cleaning up the coffee cups. He didn't really feel like doing anything this early, so he figured he'd just watch some tv for a while.

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><p>"Marco! Open up the door." The blond sighed before he walked over to the front door, unlocked and opened it. "That was about time." Izo pushed passed him and Marco closed the door. He had gotten back home, maybe thirty minutes ago, and he wanted to try to get some more sleep. But it seemed as if that wouldn't happen for a while.<p>

"What are you doing here, Izo?" His brother hadn't said anything about coming over, so since he just showed up, he wanted something.

"That hottie, Ace." Izo walked over to the couch and sat down before he looked at Marco. "He'll join us on our next album, right?" So that's what he wanted.

"You could have just called." Marco sat down in the couch and looked at his brother. "Yes, he'll join us. We just have to work out a schedule that fits all of us."

"Good. The more time the two of you spend together, the better." Izo stood up again. "Come on. Tatch just dropped me off here on his way to work, so you have to drive me back."

"The more time we spend together, the better?" Marco looked questioning on his brother.

"Not important." Izo started walking towards the front door without looking at Marco.

He figured there was no reason to start an argument about what Izo had said, so he just got up from the couch and followed his brother outside.

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><p>"Portgas." Ace turned around and looked at the big, red haired guy that came walking up to him.<p>

"It's been a while." Ace raised his hand in a greeting.

"I heard you guys are playing at the Red Line tomorrow. On the Grand Event."

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Killer told me." He gestured behind him, where a guy with long, blond hair stood watching them. Ace raised his hand in a greeting to him, before he turned his attention to the big guy again.

"Anything new happening here in South Blue lately?" He hadn't been much in South Blue lately, except for visiting his mother's grave once every week, and the extra couple of times he had visited the grave this week.

"About that, there have been some rumours about Arlong." Ace looked at him to make him continue. "People have been saying he's coming back. He have been underground for quite a few years, and now it seems he have started getting ready to come back. I thought you might be interested in knowing."

If Arlong was coming back, things could get bad. "I'll see you later. Thanks for the information Kid, let me know if you hear anything else." They parted and Ace started walking towards the closest bus station. If Arlong had started coming back, he knew he should be more careful.

* * *

><p>"Here's the order from table 5." Ace handed a note to the blond cook standing in front of him.<p>

"Got it." He gave the order to one of the other chefs in the kitchen, before he turned his attention to Ace again. "You weren't supposed to be working today, so I got surprised when you showed up asking to get a shift."

Ace sat down on a chair in the kitchen before he looked up at Sanji. "Nami and Luffy stopped by my place this morning and woke me up, and then I couldn't get to sleep again after they left."

"What was Nami and Luffy doing in that area? That's pretty far away from where they live." It took almost an hour getting from where Nami and Luffy lived to where Ace lived.

"Luffy was doing a project or something at a friends house, and she doesn't live that far away from me so they stopped by when Nami was picking up Luffy." And brought Marco over, not that he would say that out loud.

Sanji nodded, before he turned his head and looked behind him. "Table 5's order should be ready soon, you can just leave after taking it out to them. Thanks for the extra help."

Ace nodded to him, and Sanji turned around and got back to work. A few minutes later table 5's order came, and Ace brought it out into the restaurant before he went to the staffroom to change.

Yesterday he had changed at home, but today he had brought some extra clothes before going to work. He was going to the gym, which was in the opposite direction of where he lived, so he didn't want to go home before heading to the gym.

* * *

><p>"I was starting to think you wouldn't show up." When he came to the gym, a green haired man came up to him.<p>

"Wouldn't miss it for anything, Zoro." The raven haired smiled to his friend. He always used to work out with Zoro when he had time, and after he had talked with Kid, he had called Zoro so they could workout later. "I'm just gonna drop of my stuff in the locker room."

Zoro nodded and Ace went into the locker room. Inside the locker room, the raven haired took his water bottle out of his bag, before putting the bag inside one of the lockers and locking it.

When Ace left the locker room he walked into an empty fitness room. Zoro was already in the middle of warming up, and music was playing through the sound system.

"That's Limp Bizkit playing, right?" Zoro nodded and kept warming up. Ace put his water bottle on the floor next to Zoro's, and walked over to the green haired man and started warming up.

"All out, or are we playing safe?" Ace looked at Zoro for a few seconds before he gave his friend a small smirk.

"All out." Taking the smirk of his face after answering, Ace lifted his arms.

The green haired man nodded before he took a deep breath and got into a fighting stance. They stood staring at each other for a few seconds before Ace took a step closer and attacked the green haired man with a punch.

"Thanks for the workout, Zoro." They had been at it for a few hours, but now they were both so tired that they decided to stop.

"It's no problem, just don't let it go so long until the next time." Zoro picked up his water bottle from the floor and started to drink.

"I'll try." Ace grinned before he picked up his own water bottle. "Want to go and get something to eat? You're done working now anyway, and I'm really hungry."

"I'm not paying for you." Zoro walked out of the fitness room and headed for the locker room. Ace hurried after him.

"I can pay for myself, I found some money in my apartment a few days ago." Ace opened the locker his bag was in and took it out.

"Sorry, but I'm meeting someone after this, so you'll have to go alone." Ace turned around and looked at Zoro. He was in the middle of changing his clothes.

"Sanji?" Zoro nodded and Ace grinned before closing the locker. "Well, then I'll leave first. See you tomorrow, Zoro." The green haired man just nodded and Ace left the locker room without saying anything else.

* * *

><p>As soon as he got home, Ace headed straight for the shower. He hadn't bothered bringing a towel, so he couldn't shower at the gym.<p>

He let the warm water just fall down his body for a little while. It was nice being able to get a proper workout with Zoro. He should probably make sure he worked out some more during the weekend, since he didn't have to work.

Ace ended up standing in his own thoughts, only to be pulled out by his phone. Sighing, he turned of the water and grabbed a towel. He dried his hands before picking up his phone, it was a number he didn't recognise. Curious, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Ace?" The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember why.

"Yes?"

"It's Izo, don't tell me you forgot me already?" Izo. The lead singer of The Phoenix.

"I didn't, I just didn't recognize your voice at first." Now that he knew who it was, another question came into his head. "How do you have my number?"

"I got it from Nami. But more importantly, are you ready for tomorrow?"

"For The Grand Event? Yeah, I think so. Why?"

"Just wanted to make sure." Ace heard someone else's voice in the background, but he couldn't hear what was being said. "Well, I have to go. See you tomorrow Ace." With that, Izo hung up. He just stood with the phone in his hand for a second before putting it down.

Thinking about how weird that conversation was, he started to dry himself.

Checking his phone, he saw that it was almost midnight. It had been a long day, with Nami showing up early in the morning, him going to South Blue and hearing about Arlong. Working at the restaurant and working out with Zoro. Time had passed by pretty fast today, and he was honestly glad it had.

Putting his charger in his phone, Ace turned off the lights in his bedroom and got under the cover.

He was exhausted after the long day, and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>I really suck for taking so long, and then the chapter isn't even that long.<strong>

**Well, nothing to do about that now.**

**I have not idea when the next chapter is coming out, but before that I will fix all the typos I've made in the previous chapters. There's probably a lot of them :P**

**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and let me know if there are a lot of typos in this chapter (it shouldn't be, but you never know.)**

**Leave a review if you feel like it, I always love seeing them :)**


	5. Chapter 5

_**It did take me a while, but atleast it didn't take me 5 months this time (I still feel bad for that one)**_

_**I've also been going through the four first chapters and fixed the typos I could find**_

**_But I'm not gonna say anything else, so enjoy the chapter_**

**_Oh, I almost forgot:_**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of the characters_**

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><p>"Ace! Ace! ACE!"<p>

"SHUT UP!" Irritated, he threw his pillow towards the person trying to wake him up. The blond easily just kicked it to the side before it had a chance to hit him.

"Come on. Nami-san wanted us to meet up early today to have a band meeting together with the last rehearsal before the sound check."

"Sanji..." Ace looked at the blond, who were wearing a pair of blue pants and a white t-shirt with the bands logo on it. "You couldn't have let me sleep a little longer?" Wait. Sanji? "And how did you get in?" Nami was the only other person beside himself that had a key to his apartment, but she probably wouldn't think twice about lending it to someone else.

"Nami-san gave me her key so I could come and get you." Sanji turned around and was about to leave the bedroom. "Get dressed, I'll make some breakfast."

Sighing, Ace got out of bed. He found his black shorts and took them on. It was supposed to be sunny the whole day, so he didn't bother about finding a shirt, but he found his cowboy hat laying on his desk along with the red beaded necklace. He put on both the necklace and the hat before grabbing his phone and walking downstairs.

When he walked into the kitchen, he was welcomed with the smell of bacon and pancakes. By the small table were three plates with bacon and pancakes. Sanji was sitting and eating from one of the plates, and Zoro was sitting and eating from one of the other plates. Ace sat in front of the last plate and started eating.

"He got you too, huh." Ace looked at Zoro, who nodded without looking up from his food. He noticed that the green-haired guy was sitting there with a pair of dark, green pants and no shirt. "You should really wear a shirt, or I might fall for you."

"I could say the same for you." Zoro smirked a little before giving the food on his plate his full attention.

"Hurry up and eat. We have to leave in thirty minutes." Sanji kicked both of them under the table before he got up and put his plate in the dishwasher.

Ace and Zoro looked on each other, grinning. "Got it." In seconds, the food started disappearing.

"DON'T COMPETE!" The blond kicked both Ace and Zoro, sending them straight into the floor.

"You said we had to hurry." Ace grinned up at the blond, who just gave him another kick before taking the two plates from the table and putting them in the fridge.

"Idiots don't get food."

"No one wants to eat your shitty food anyway, you shitty cook." Zoro didn't even bother looking on Sanji when he got up from the floor.

"What did you say marimo?" Sanji sent a kick straight at Zoro, who easily dodged it.

"Sanji, Nami is calling." Ace was sitting in his chair again, looking on Sanji and Zoro.

"Nami-swan's calling?" Sanji's eyes turned into hearts, and Ace couldn't help but laugh a little.

"No, sorry. We just don't have time for you and Zoro to…" Ace stopped in the middle of the sentence and a second later, his head hit the table.

"WAKE UP!" Pissed off, Sanji kicked Ace in the back of his head, sending him straight through the table.

It took a few seconds before the raven-haired teen started getting up from the floor. He got up on his knees and looked at Sanji.

"That hurt." He rubbed the back of his head for a few seconds before he got back up on his feet.

"Get your stuffs, we're leaving." Sanji started walking out of the kitchen, but stopped in the doorframe and looked over his shoulder. "You too, marimo. Hurry up." He walked out of the kitchen before Zoro got the chance to do anything.

"Shitty cook."

"Are you guys really going out?" Ace gave Zoro a questioning look, but the green-haired guy just shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we should get going anyway." Ace checked that he had his phone in his pocket before he walked towards the front door.

"By the way, your head's bleeding." Zoro followed Ace out of the kitchen.

"Bleeding?" Ace turned around and looked on Zoro while putting on his black boots.

"Your head." Zoro pointed to the left side of his forehead to show Ace where it was.

Ace lifted his hand to his head. He felt something on his forehead, and when he looked on his hand he could see his fingers had blood on them.

"Why am I bleeding?" Ace looked at Zoro who just shrugged his shoulders and walked past him out the front door. Ace grabbed his keys and followed Zoro out. He locked the door before he followed Zoro down to a dark blue car. Zoro got into the passenger seat and Ace got into the back seat.

As soon as Ace and Zoro were in the car, Sanji started it and started driving towards their rehearsal studio.

"What happened to your face, Ace?" Nami stopped looking over the papers in her hand when the three guys came walking into the rehearsal studio. She was wearing her usual blue, low rider jeans, a pair of brown high heels and a red t-shirt.

"Sanji kicked me in the back of my head when I was sleeping on the table." Ace grinned and sat down in one of the couches before he looked around in the room. Except for Luffy and Brook, they were all there. The instruments where standing on the left side of the room from where the door was, facing each other. The two couches on the right side with a coffee table in the middle were old and pretty worn out.

"Sanji-kun, don't mess up his face." Nami looked over at Sanji for a second before she pointed at Ace. "That face is what have brought in about 50 percent of the band's fan base."

"Nami, what about the rest of us?" Zoro sat down beside Ace and looked at their manager.

Nami opened her mouth to answer, but before she had the chance to, the door flew open and Luffy ran into the room and straight into the wall. A few seconds after Luffy burst into the room, Brook came walking in with a cup of tea in his hand. Luffy were wearing his favorite pair of blue shorts, and he had an unbuttoned Hawaii-shirt on, and Brook were wearing a black suit like he usually did.

"Well, now that we're all here we can get started." Nami looked at the guys in front of her and waited until they all had sat down before she continued: "We have to be at Red Line by 5pm, that's 3 hours before the show starts." She looked down on the papers in her hands. "Including you guys and the Phoenix, two other bands are playing. They are The Moms, who're signed under Big Moms record company. And then there's Shark Superb, they are pretty new but they already have a big fan base."

"Are they signed with anyone?" Nami looked at Zoro and nodded.

"Yeah, but I don't know who they're signed with. I have been trying to figure it out, but it's impossible. There is also no official pictures of the band out, so they are a mystery."

"Who are a mystery?" Luffy looked questioning on Nami, who sighed.

"You weren't listening at all, where you, Luffy?" The raven-haired shook his head grinning. "Well, the four of you got it right?" She looked at the other four guys. Brook were drinking his tea, Sanji were looking on her with hearts in his eyes, Zoro were looking at Sanji's ass, and Ace seemed to be the only one currently paying attention. "Why do I even bother?" Nami shook her head before she pointed towards the instruments. "You guys have a 45 minute set tonight. Decide what songs you guys are going to play, and start rehearsing."

In seconds the guys, including Luffy, got serious, nodded and walked over to their instruments. They talked for a few minutes before they started playing some of their songs.

"There's four hours left until we need to be at Red Line. Since you guys have agreed on the set list, and the songs are sounding good, we can end the rehearsal now." Nami put a few water bottles on the table between the two couches, and the guys put down their instruments to drink.

"What are we going to do for the next few hours?" Brook drank some of the water before looking at Nami.

"Rest." She looked at them with serious eyes. "Don't do anything stupid, and that means don't get into any fights, and make sure to rest so you're all ready for tonight." The guys all nodded.

"I'm gonna hit the gym for a few hours." Zoro put down the water bottle before looking at Ace. "You wanna come?" The freckled teen was about to answer, but before he had a chance to his phone vibrated in his pocket. Ace took it up from his pocket and looked on the message he received.

"Sorry, I can't." He gave Zoro an apologetic smile. "Something urgent came up, so I'm gonna head off." Ace started walking towards the door with the phone in his hand. He stopped and turned around after opening the door. "I'll see you guys at Red Line." Before anyone had a chance to say anything he was out the door, having closed it behind him.

"He's going to do something stupid, isn't he?" Nami stared at the door for a few seconds before she sighed.

"What's going on? What's so urgent that I had to come to South Blue straight away?" Ace sat down across the red-head in the boot, staring at him. The red-head looked around on the other people in the bar for a few seconds before turning to Ace.

"He's back." Ace's eyes widened when he heard that.

"Kid, you're sure he's back?"

"I've been hanging around in New World for a few days, and I've seen a lot of his guys there. He's back, and it seems as if he started a record company."

"A record company? Why would he do that?"

"Who knows?" Kid shrugged his shoulders before continuing. "But it seems like a band signed to him is playing on Red Line tonight, same as you."

A band that's playing on Red Line? Ace thought about the bands Nami had mentioned at the beginning of the rehearsal. Except for them, there was The Phoenix, The Moms and… "Shark Superb"

"Yeah." Kid gave him a look that showed he was a little surprised that Ace knew the name of the band.

"You think he's going to be there tonight?" Ace was completely serious while he was waiting for Kid to answer.

"Probably." Kid looked at him. "I'm only telling you because we're from the same side of town, I'm not gonna help you if things get bad."

"I know." Ace stood up and gave the red-head a short nod. "Thanks for letting me know." He walked out of the bar and started walking towards the bus station.

"You're Ace, right?" He turned around to see who was talking to him. There were three guys, all a lot bigger than him.

"And if I am?" He took a step back and eyed the three guys in front of him. They reminded him of some people he had met before, he just couldn't place any names on their faces.

"We got a message for you." Two of the guys walked two his sides so they surrounded him.

"I don't feel like getting a message at the moment." Ace threw a punch against the guy standing in front of him, hitting him straight in the stomach. The guy took a few steps back to regain his balance.

"Bastard." The guy started throwing punches at Ace, who tried to block and dodge as many as he could. But as soon as he blocked or dodged one punch, another one came at him.

The two other guys joined in, throwing punches at Ace who were having a hard time dealing with all three of them. Even an idiot would understand how it was going to end.

Two of the guys grabbed Ace's hands, and the guy he had punched first were standing in front of him with a knife in his hand.

"You really should let people talk." He put the knife towards Ace's chest and cut him with it. The cut was a little deep, and blood started coming out almost straight away. "This is a warning." The two guys that were holding Ace's arms let go of him, and he fell to his knees. "Oh, and Arlong says hi." With that, they left.

Ace put a hand to his chest where he had been cut. "Shit."

Realizing he had no idea what time it was, he put his hand in his pocket to check if his phone were still there, and took it up. He looked at the time and started swearing. 4:30. He got up on his feet and looked through the contacts in his phone until he found the number he was looking for and pressed call. It took a few seconds before the phone was answered, and Ace didn't waste any time.

"I need a favor."

"Where the hell is he?" Nami looked over at Zoro and Sanji who only shrugged their shoulders. It was already thirty minutes since they were supposed to show up at Red Line, and Ace was the only one missing.

"You still can't get in touch with him?" Izo came walking over to Nami with a worried look on his face.

"Ace isn't picking up, and we have no idea where he is."

"I'm sure he's just running a little late." Tatch came over and gave Nami a smile. "He'll probably come through the front door any minute now."

Nami was still worried, since Ace rarely were late and when he was he would always call first. She found Ace's number on her phone again and pressed call. The Straw Hats were the only band that hadn't had their sound check yet, and without Ace they couldn't have it. Zoro and Sanji where sitting with their instruments playing over the songs they were going to play by themselves, Brook were drinking tea and Luffy were somewhere with Haruta. The rest of the members of The Phoenix were waiting with Nami and the others for Ace to show up, while the two other bands where in their dressing rooms.

"Hello?" Nami was shook out of her thoughts when someone on the other line answered, but it wasn't Ace. She checked the number to make sure she actually had called to Ace, which she had.

"Where's Ace?" She was a little careful when she spoke, since she didn't recognize the voice on the other line.

"Getting checked by the doctor."

"Doctor? What the hell happened?" Nami look at the others with a worried look on her face. She heard some voices in the background, and a few seconds later she heard Ace's voice coming from the phone.

"Nami? Sorry, I'm running a little late. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Ace, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you later, but I kinda have to hurry right now, so bye." After saying that, he hung up and Nami proceeded to staring at her phones screen.

"Nami, what's going on?" She looked over at Zoro before she answered.

"I have no idea."

"Sorry I'm late." Ace hurried up to Nami and bowed his head in apology as soon as he came into the Red Line. It was about ten minutes since he had hung up on her.

"Ace, why did you go to South Blue?" When she took a look at him, there was no doubt that that was where he had been. At least earlier.

"Urgent business."

"And the cut?" She crossed her arms and gave Ace a look that made him take a few steps back.

"I got into a fight, nothing to serious. I just had to go have a doctor stitch me up." Ace shrugged his shoulders before moving towards the stage. "We should get our sound check done, right?"

Nami shook her head, knowing she wouldn't get any more out of him at the moment.

"I'm nervous." Ace looked over at Nami with a grin.

"Why are you nervous? We're the ones that are going onto that stage in a few minutes."

"I'm not nervous about that, you guys are going to kill it." She gave Ace a smile. "I'm nervous, because you came her late and beat up and you won't tell me what happened."

"I already said I got into a fight." Nami sighed and walked over to Luffy who were eating everything he saw.

"So what actually happened?" Zoro leaned his back against the wall next to Ace and talked in a lowered voice.

"It seems like Arlong is back, I'm pretty sure the guys I ended up fighting with was sent by him." Ace kept his voice just as low to make sure Nami didn't hear anything. "I doubt he'll come after her, but I'll tell Luffy to not leave her alone later just in case." Zoro nodded. It made sense for him now why Ace all of a sudden had called him yesterday to workout.

"The Straw Hats, you're on in one minute." A member of the crew came over to them, and they all nodded to let the guy know they had heard him.

"Well, I guess this is it." Ace started walking towards the stage, being followed by the rest of the band and Nami.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well, I hope you guys liked it and that you will continue reading this story.<strong>_

_**And I'm guessing some of you are wondering a little about Arlong and what he have to do with this story, so if you wanna know you're gonna have to keep reading the story**_


	6. Chapter 6

**_I have suprised myself by finishing this chapter in such a short time (I didn't think I had it in me, so right now I'm proud of myself :D)_**

**_I don't really have much to say right now, but I have been thinking a lot lately and I have started realising I should probably have a beta reader to help me make this story as good as it can be (with as little typos as possible). If anyone that's reading this story could be interested, or if anyone know anyone that might be interested please let me know :)_**

**_Disclamer: I do not, sadly enough, own One Piece or any of the characters_**

* * *

><p>"Good job, the crowed really loved you guys." The blond raised a bottle of beer towards The Straw Hats lead singer. The Red Line Grand Event was over for now, and The Phoenix and The Straw Hats were standing backstage celebrating. The Moms had left not long after they had finished their set list, and Shark Superb were apparently still at the club and talking with their manager.<p>

"Thanks." Ace smiled to him and raised his bottle in return before he looked around on the others. Nami was having a conversation with Izo and Thatch, Luffy and Haruta were off doing something (Ace was just hoping his brother wouldn't break anything), Zoro were drinking beer to his heart's content while taking some glances at Sanji's ass, and Sanji and Brook were eating and he guessed they were also talking about some of the new songs they were working on, or at least that was what it sounded like from the words he picked up of their conversation.

"You guys are going to go far with the music you make, even if you don't sign with anyone." Marco finished what was left of his beer and put the empty bottle down

"Thanks." Ace smiled to him. It meant a lot to him to hear someone else say that. He was proud of the band he played in and the music they made together. "You guys always do this? Drinking together after you play a gig?" Ace gave the blond a questioning look. He wasn't used to staying with the band for so long after they had played. They usually stayed together for about thirty minutes before he went to Shakky's Rip-off Bar and took a few beers there while talking to Shakky about the show and then went home. One and a half hour had already passed since they finished their set list.

While waiting for the blond to answer, Ace took a little time just looking him over. He hadn't really thought over the fact that the blond was wearing the exact same outfit as the first time he saw him. And when he looked on the man's chest, he noticed something he hadn't the first time he saw him. The blond had a big tattoo on his chest. It was a cross with a crescent moon mustache.

"Yeah, we usually stay together for a few hours after we finish playing a show." He leaned his back against the wall and looked at the raven. "You guys don't?"

"Not rea…" Ace stopped in the middle of the sentence and a second later he hit the floor, face first.

"Oi, Ace?" Marco looked shocked down on the raven-haired guy laying on the floor. The sound Ace had made when he hit the floor had caught the attention of the others.

"What happened?" Izo's voice was full of concern.

"Just ignore him, he'll wake up soon." Izo, Thatch and Marco all looked surprised at Nami.

"Wake up?" Thatch gave her a confused look. As if on cue, Ace started snoring, causing the members of The Straw Hats to laugh.

"Ace is narcoleptic, so he'll fall asleep all of a sudden some times." Nami laughed a little before she continued. "It actually happened in the middle of a gig once and Luffy started throwing drum sticks on him until he woke up." Sanji, Zoro and Brook started laughing when they were reminded of that episode. Thatch joined in on the laughing imagining it. Izo shook his head a little, and Marco looked down on the raven.

The sight of Ace that time, laying on the floor while Luffy threw drumsticks on him was something the rest of the band teased Ace about all the time, the fact that it was filmed didn't make it any better. The raven always hated it when they teased him about it, but the rest of the band knew he thought it was funny himself. Having fallen asleep in the middle of a gig had made him start looking into medication against his narcolepsy, not that he had found one with side effects he could accept. At least not yet.

"He fell asleep in the middle of a gig?" Thatch looked at Nami, who nodded.

"What happened here?" They all turned their attention to Haruta who looked at the freckled man lying on the floor.

"ACE!" Luffy, who were standing next to Haruta, jumped on his brother landing on the other ravens back.

They all looked at the two brothers when Ace slowly started moving under Luffy. It was quiet for a few seconds before Ace turned his head a little towards Luffy and said: "Lu, get off me." The younger brother grinned before he got off Ace's back so his brother could stand up.

"I don't know whether it's my back or my face that hurts the most." Ace looked accusingly on Luffy, who just grinned back at him, while he got up on his feet. It wasn't the first time Luffy had woken him up by jumping on him, and he was sure it wouldn't be the last.

"Now that you're awake again, Ace," Nami came and stood right in front of him, crossing her arms. "When I said earlier that you guys shouldn't do anything stupid before we were going to meet up here at Red Line, did you think that didn't apply to you?"

Nami were smiling, a smile that seemed friendly at first but it was easy to see how mad she actually was. Ace had thought he could get away from having to answer anything about where he had been and what he had been doing after he left rehearsal earlier that day. Nami had tried to bring it up after their sound check and when they first got off stage, but he had avoided it. Now, with everyone looked on him, it wasn't that easy to just dodge the question. "I didn't do anything stupid." Ace took a step back, away from Nami, just in case she felt like punching him.

"Man, you were late and when you showed up you had a stitched cut on your chest. Seems like you did something pretty stupid." Ace gave Zoro an annoyed look. Did he have to put fuel on the fire?

"When you mention it, you all seem rather calm about the fact that your bands lead singer came here with a stitched cut." Thatch looked on The Straw Hats a little confused. "Does things like that happen a lot?"

"It is not the first time Ace-san have come to a gig or a rehearsal after being roughen up a bit." Brook took a sip of the tea in his hand.

"And I doubt it's going to be the last time." The blond guitarist ignored the look he got from Ace. The freckled teen felt like the whole band wanted to punish him for being late, and he did understand it a little.

"You can't expect me to stay out of a fight." Ace looked on Nami who looked like she wanted to strangle him. "And Luffy is worse." It was true. The younger of the two brothers got into fights all the time, and a lot of the times it had been over food.

"Luffy isn't the one that was late." The orange haired women slapped Ace in the face before she continued. "And who picked up your phone when I called?" He should have been expecting that question, but he really didn't want to answer it, but he knew he didn't have a choice.

"Kid." Ace kept his voice down, hoping Nami wouldn't hear him, but he wasn't that lucky.

"I give up." She shook her head and sat down in a couch. Nami had never been a fan of Kid. She always thought that he dragged Ace into a lot more trouble that he would have gotten into by himself, and being his friend she was worried about him.

"Is all of this really normal?"

Ace turned to Marco and grinned. "Yeah." Then he turned to Nami and bowed. "I'm sorry." He stood up straight and looked at her. They argued and teased each other a lot, but in the end they both cared about each other and Ace had no doubt about that Nami would forgive him.

Nami studied him for a minute before she sighed. "Just go." Ace grinned at her. If she didn't mind him leaving, it meant she had forgiven him already. He liked the fact that she knew him so well, understanding that he wanted to go to Shakky's like usual.

"Are you going anywhere?" Izo looked at Ace who nodded.

"I usually go to a friend's bar when we finish playing a show." Well, not really a friend, he thought for himself. Shakky always tried to take all his money when he went there.

"Why not take Marco with you? He is the main songwriter for The Phoenix, you guys could see if you could get some ideas for the song you'll be featured on." Nami gave him an innocent look, but he knew she was plotting something. But the thought of going to Shakky's with the blond bassist, he couldn't really say that he would mind.

"If he doesn't mind." Ace looked at Marco who shrugged. They said goodbye to the others before they left. They got a taxi to take them to the bar, since it would take them at least an hour walking there from The Red Line Club.

When they got there, they got a beer each and found a booth to sit in. Ace noticed that Shakky gave him a questioning look, but he just shrugged. He never went to that bar with someone else. He always came and left alone, so he understood the questioning look he got from the owner of the bar.

"You usually come to this bar after playing a show?" Marco looked around inside the bar. No matter how you looked at it, everything about it was a bit shady. The way the bar looked, and the people drinking at the moment. The blond already knew that the place wasn't really the nicest bar, he had seen that when they played there a few days earlier, but he also knew that the place wasn't that dangerous since most people didn't really want to make the owner angry.

"Yeah, I used to hang here a lot when I was younger. The owner used to play in a band, but she is always refusing to tell me the name of the band." Ace looked at blond and grinned. "It's because of her that I wanted to play in a band." The blond nodded.

They ended up talking a lot about their bands and about some ideas for the song Ace would be featured on. The time flew and before they knew they had to leave since the bar was closing. Ace found out that it was actually a lot of fun talking to the blond. He wasn't just hot, but interesting as well. They talked a little more while they were waiting for the taxi's they had called for to come. They had both been drinking a lot, but Ace was obviously the drunkest of the two. He wasn't drunk enough to slur his words or to not be able to stand up, but he was far from sober and he had passed being a little tipsy a while ago.

"It was really fun getting to share a stage with you guys tonight." Ace grinned at the blond. He had actually thought about saying it earlier, but for some reason he hadn't.

"Yeah. I doubt this will be the only time we do." The blond smiled to him. It had been fun talking to the younger man.

One of the taxi's arrived, and Marco insisted that Ace took it since he was the drunkest of the two. Ace felt a little dizzy when he took a step towards the taxi, and he felt himself starting to fall over. He prepared to hit the ground, but instead two strong arms caught him and helped him get steady.

"You okay?" Ace looked up and met Marcos eyes.

The raven-haired teen was lost in the blonde's eyes. He vaguely remembered when he had seen the blond a few days earlier playing a show on Shakky's Rip-off Bar. He knew he really had been drooling over the blond at the time, but who could blame him? It was obvious that the blond was hot, anyone could see that. The blond was still looking at him, trying to figure out whether or not Ace could get home by himself.

Ace, still lost in the blonde's eye, moved his head closer to Marco. Before the blond had a chance to do or say anything, Ace had closed his eyes and the distance between their lips.

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><p><strong><em>They kissed. Anyone knows what's gonna happen next? Anyone wants to try and guess?<em>**

**_Well, I would love a review if you feel like leaving one. I always get really happy when I get them._**

**_Well, I'll see you guys when the next chapter is ready._**


	7. Chapter 7

_**HAPPY ONE YEAR ANIVERSERY!**_

_**Wow, it's already been a year since I started this story and it really makes me happy to see that people like reading it.**_

_**I hope you guys will keep reading, and enjoying, the story for (hopefully) another year.**_

_**Enjoy the chapter ;)**_

_**Disclaimer: I still don't own One Piece nor any of the characters**_

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><p>"Ouch." Rubbing the back of his head, he sat up and looked up on the bed. The raven-hair realized he had fallen out of bed, but his head was hurting too much for it to just be that. He couldn't remember how he got home either, and he was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday. "What happened yesterday?" Mumbling to himself, he got up on his feet and sat down on the bed.<p>

Slowly he started remembering that he had gone to Shakky's with The Phoenix's bassist about an hour after the Red Lines Grand Event finished and might have gotten a bit too much to drink, and when they were waiting for the taxis to come…

He stared into the air in front of him for a few minutes before he whispered: "I kissed him…" Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit. What had he done? He started regretting that he had gone to Shakky's to drink with someone else. He should have just gone by himself like he always did after a show. Shit. How would he be able to face the blond now?

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><p>He looked over to his phone and picked it up. Seeing his brother's name on the screen, he sighed and answered. "Yes?"<p>

"How did it go?" His brother's demanding voice made him a little annoyed, and he took a sip off his, now cold, coffee before getting up and taking the coffee to the kitchen to pour it out and get a new cup.

"How did what go?"

"You know what I'm talking about. How did it go with you and Ace?"

"Izo, nothing happened. We had a few beers and talked about our bands and about some ideas for the song he is going to be featured on." He should have known Izo would call him. He had already realized that his brother was trying to set him up, but he wasn't planning to date someone that was more than ten years younger than him. "If it isn't anything else, then I'm going to hang up. Bye Izo." Without waiting for his brother to answer, he hung up and put his phone in his pocket. He made another cup of coffee and took a sip off it before going back to the living room and sat down in the couch.

Sighing, the blond thought back to what had happened with Ace the night before. He didn't understand why the raven had kissed him, but he couldn't really say that he had minded it.

The only thing that was troubling him was how he should face the young singer the next time they met. If he was going to be honest, he didn't really think that the raven-haired singer would even remember what had happened the previous night, so maybe he should just pretend nothing had happened. Yeah, the blond decided to just pretend that the kiss hadn't happened at all and hope the other would do the same if he somehow remembered.

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><p>"If you are planning on coming by, you could do it after I open." The green-haired woman sat down next to the freckled guy and looked at him.<p>

"I'm sorry, Makino." He gave her an apologetic smile. "I just needed to get out of my place for a bit and I don't have work today."

"What happened?" He looked surprised at the woman sitting next to him by the counter of the empty bar. The woman just smiled at him. "I have known you since you were a kid Ace, ever since high school you have always come here when something is troubling you."

He hadn't ever really thought about it before, but now that Makino was saying it he realized that what she was saying was true. He always came to Partys bar when he had something troubling him and he wanted to be alone or just didn't want anyone to bother him.

"It's just a lot of things happening at once with the band, it's nothing to worry about." Ace gave her one big smile, and Makino let the topic go. She had known the young man long enough to know that he wouldn't tell her anyway.

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><p>After Izo had called him, he had ended up picking up his bass to practice on some of the songs for the band's new album. They had just recently started working on it so they only had four songs that were already decide that would be on the album, but they wouldn't be hitting the studio to start recording in at least a month. The Phoenix was a band that liked to have all the songs ready before they started recording, and with this being their 5th album it seemed like a good way to do it.<p>

He had been playing all four songs a few times when he got a text from his brother. Hoping it wasn't anything about last night, he opened it and the subject surprised him a little.

_To: Marco_

_From: Izo_

_We're gonna start recording on the 8th next month._

_You and Ace start working on the song he'll be featured on at the same time, so the two of you will be working on the lyrics in the studio._

The 8th, that was a little more than a month away. He knew he should probably talk to Ace before that, to make sure things wouldn't get awkward between them, but he couldn't really make himself face Ace at the moment. There was still time before they started recording so he didn't need to clear things just yet. He could wait a few weeks before talking to the raven as long as he did it before they hit the studio.

He answered Izo with an _"ok"_ before he put away his bass. He had been playing for a while, and first now he realized he was getting hungry. Not feeling like making anything, he threw on a jacket and grabbed his car keys before heading out the front door. It was a little past four pm, so he figured he could drive to East Blue and pick up Haruta to take her out to eat today.

When he got into his car, he took up his phone and send a text to his sister, asking if she wanted to go out and eat, then he started the car and started driving towards East Blue.

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><p>"Thanks for waiting, here's your food." Marco gave the blonde waitress a smile as she put his food down in front of him. He recognized the waitress as the same woman who had dropped a wine bottle the last time he was there eating with Haruta and Luffy. She looked fine, even thought it had happened only a few days ago.<p>

"Thanks." He looked down on his food as the waitress left. It looked really good and he cast a look towards his sister, who was already eating her food, before he started himself.

"Thanks for taking me out to eat, Marco." Haruta gave her brother a smile before she continued eating. The blond smiled back and continued on his own food.

While they were eating they talked about the new album they were going to start recording next month. Izo had, of course, sent a text to all of them. Haruta seemed really excited about Ace joining them on a song, and Marco admitted to himself that he was looking forward to it too. Ace was a great singer.

When they finished eating, the waitress came out with some dessert and a cup of coffee for Marco.

"We didn't order any dessert." Marco looked confused on the waitress, hoping she would explain.

"It's on the house, so don't complain." He looked at the young man that had just joined them. The young chef, Luffy had told him that he was a chef, had blond hair and was dressed in a black suit.

"Sanji, right?" He had to ask to make sure. He wasn't all that sure about the names of the members off The Straw Hats, but he clearly remembered having seen him on stage last night. Sanji was the guitarist, and a damn good one too booth.

"Yeah." Sanji nodded before he told the waitress to leave. When she had left, Sanji looked at Marco for a few seconds without saying anything. "Enjoy the dessert." With that, the chef turned around and went back to the kitchen.

Marco had the feeling that the guitarist had actually wanted to say something else, but he couldn't be sure. He decided not to think too much about it, and ate his dessert and drank his coffee.

When both he and Haruta had finished their desserts, Marco paid and they left the restaurant.

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><p>After hanging out at Partys bar for a few hours, Ace had taken the bus from East Blue to Grand Line. He had gone to a few music shops buying some new CDs and a new pair of earphones, since his old ones had somehow disappeared since he last used them.<p>

At the moment he was sitting in a small restaurant eating dinner by himself. He didn't feel like making any food, so a restaurant seemed like the best idea. By the time he finished eating it was almost six pm and he figured that he should just head home for the day.

It was past eight pm by the time he was home, and he didn't get to relax for long before he got a text from the last person he expected to. Eustass Kid.

_To: Portgas D. Ace_

_From: Eustass Kid_

_Punk Hazard._

The message was short, but Ace knew exactly what the red-haired man meant.

Punk Hazard was a bar in Underworld. It was a really dangerous part of the city just outside of South Blue. There were a lot of illegal things going on there. Underworld was a place even the police didn't go to. It had been a while since he last went there, about four or five months, but if Kid sent him a text he probably knew something Ace would want to know, so not going wasn't even an option.

_To: Eustass Kid_

_From: Portgas D. Ace_

_1 hour._

After replying to Kid, he went up to his bedroom and changed into a pair of black jeans and a black hoodie before he left again. He knew it would take him about an hour to get there if he took his bike, and since he figured it was important, that's what he did.

He pulled his hood further down his face before he entered the bar. Once he got inside, he carefully looked around on the people sitting there. His eyes stopped on a person with red, spiky hair sitting in a booth. He slowly made his way over and sat down in the booth, taking the seat opposed to the red-haired guy who had called him there.

"I don't know who you pissed off this time, but it's someone new." The red-haired guy kept his voice low and took up a paper and slid it across the table. "These have come up around Underworld. Someone really wants you dead, Portgas." He took a look on the paper in front of him before he looked at Kid.

"How long?" Looking at the paper in front of him he knew this was bad.

"These ones first started coming around a week ago, but then it was only given to a few people." Kid leaned back before continuing. "They were put up all around Underground last night, and with that prize a lot of people will be trying to get their hands on the money."

"Thanks for telling me." He stood up and got ready to leave. After seeing that, he knew it would be dangerous for him to stay in the area for too long.

"One more thing." He looked at Kid and gave him a short nod to make him continue. "Trafalgar wanted you to stop by so he can take another look at the cut he stitched together for you yesterday." He just nodded before he quietly left the bar and started walking.

He kept his head down as he walked through Underground to where he had hidden his bike. The paper that Kid had shown him was a wanted poster, a wanted poster for him.

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><p><em><strong>Now, who is after Ace? Who could it be that have put a bounty on Ace? Feel free to guess until the next chapter is out :)<strong>_


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